My top 5 tips to find your sewjo again!

You know the feeling. The WIP piles (yes, that was meant to be a plural) keep growing. Deadlines are looming. The sewing room is a mess (ok, so that’s a given). All you want to do is close the door and pretend it’s not there.

You’re in a creative/sewing/quilting {insert most appropriate adjective here} funk, and there’s nothing you can do about it, except hope that someday you’ll find your sewjo again (most probably under a pile of fabric scraps). Right?

WRONG!

Pull yourself together, put on your big girl/boy undies and get yourself out of that rut by following my top five mojo-locating strategies!

5. CLEAN UP

Ok, so unless you live in some weird kind of Spongebob Squarepants cartoon reality, you’re probably not going to ACTUALLY find your sewjo under a pile of fabric scraps (if you do, please tell me, is it cute like Patrick or ugly like Squidward?). But if there’s one way to dampen your creativity, working in a pigsty will sure tick that box! So, clean up your creative space. Start putting away those fabrics you pulled out in that ‘I’ve got an awesome new idea’ creative frenzy, drag out the vacuum cleaner and wipe down those surfaces. If nothing else, when you are motivated to sew once again, at least you’ll have a clean space to dive right in.

4. DO SOMETHING ELSE

“Wait. Whaaaaaat? How is doing something else going to help me find my sewjo??” you say (in a very skeptical tone of voice, I might add). Well, sometimes we just need a break. Some creative breathing space, so to speak. Muddling around half doing things will never help you find your lost motivation, and neither will freaking out, so go and do something different (try these!). Out of the ordinary. Refreshing. Ride a horse. Dance on a ceiling (sorry, couldn’t help myself). Or, be cool like Ezra and put on some star shades and throw a party!

Just do something to break the monotony. It might be ten minutes, ten hours or ten days (hopefully not ten years…). Whatever you need to feel rejuvenated and excited again about sewing. Go on, close that sewing room door and forget about it for a while!

3. MAKE A LIST

Project overwhelm. It’s a thing. And not only is it a thing, but it’s answerable for approximately 54.923% of lost creativity. Seriously, I read it somewhere*. I’m telling you, if you’re looking for a creative sedative, then project overwhelm is your jam (or should that be, your Benzodiaza-jam…?).

Prioritise and remind yourself of your WIPs by making a list. There is actually a psychology behind this – something about the brain loving ordered tasks, blah blah blah. All you need to know is, IT WORKS. So do it. (If you want to read more about why lists work take a look at this!)

Begin by writing down all your current WIPs and their level of finished-ness.

If you have deadlines, prioritise your WIPs according to their due date. That is, put the WIP with the closest deadline (aka the one that makes your heart pound the most) at the top, then the next closest deadline and so on and so forth.

If you don’t have deadlines (just a significant other who complains incessantly about how much fabric you own), list your WIPs according to their level of finished-ness, putting the project that is the closest to being finished at the top.

Still can’t find your sewjo? Then try this…

2. WIP PURGE

So Lionel-themed quilts just aren’t your thing anymore? You know what? That’s ok. (Like, really really ok.) Give yourself permission to grow. If a project doesn’t float your boat anymore, look it squarely in the eye and say, “It’s me, not you. I’ve changed. I’m more a Scandi kinda girl now.”, and then politely show it the door (by which I mean, give it to an op shop so someone else can give it the love it deserves).

Now, this is it. This is my ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ tip. It’s so good it should be at the top, but that would mean it was at the bottom… (Confused? Me too.)

My top tip is mind-blowing. So hold onto your pants and kiss your kids good-bye. Are you ready for it?

FINISH SOMETHING

Underwhelmed? Stick with me. It’s not meant to be rocket science, sometimes simple is all we need. Just finish something. You’re probably thinking this one tip can’t possibly be that good, but in my years of experience of procrastination and putting things off and pretending things aren’t there in the hope that when I come back they’ll suddenly be done, doing this one thing is ALL YOU NEED TO DO to find your sewjo again. So if you only do one thing out of everything I’ve said in this post, do this!

The best part is… you can finish WHATEVER YOU WANT. You can even start a NEW project to finish (go on, you know you want to!). BUT YOU HAVE TO FINISH IT!

Don’t be deceived. It’s not as easy as it sounds, because you’re basically saying ‘Sayonara’ to mooning about, scrolling through your Instagram feed for the millionth time (and seeing the same stuff because of the stupid algorithm) or checking the fridge for food that wasn’t there before and still isn’t there now. You’re taking your sewjo by the scruff of the neck and telling it where to go (like, sewing room is third door on the right, to be specific).

I recommend choosing a small project, something that won’t take too long, so you can bask in the glory of a finished project not long after starting it. And make sure you really bake in that glory, ok (I’m talking Gold Coast fake tan levels) because this is the key! The feeling of finishing. That glorious, elusive hit you get when you look down at that puzzle-like creation in your hands and think, I made that. I finished that puzzle! Because finishing one thing makes you want to finish something else…

About Me

Welcome to Wife-made! I am a creative handmaker and I love to design sewing & quilting patterns. Let me inspire you with original patterns and free tutorials for your family and home. Be sure to say hello!